Wonderful Wonderful Romance: Of Knights And Clocks
by chaos-dark-lord
Summary: Ace doesn't care about the thousands of clocks waiting for Julius to repair them; he doesn't like Julius being so grumpy and stressed either and no one remembers what happened that killed so many people. In the middle of this appears someone they forgot and that knows everything but won't tell them. Why?
1. A forgotten guest

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**Follow–up romance route for the series "Wonderful Wonderful Science". So it's recommended to read that.**

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**CHAPTER 1: A FORGOTTEN GUEST**

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Julius sat in a bench along the guests from Clover Tower. They and all the other territories had agreed on a temporary truce to celebrate this happy special occasion; and although it was indeed special, it wasn't entirely easy or necessarily happy for the present guests. But regardless, it wasn't every day that a foreigner was getting married and a game was completed.

The string quartet began playing and everyone turned around to look at the feminine figure that appeared under the flower arch that decorated and marked the entrance to the red carpet that led to the altar. The light that came behind the white clad figure accentuated her radiance at every step. The bouquet of roses on her hands trembled lightly from her exited and slightly nervous grip. Her blue eyes shone with joy and her lips couldn't hide her happiness. Alice looked beautiful. She seemed genuinely happy to finally end her game in this world after choosing Blood Dupre, the mad hatter and mafia boss, as the winner of her heart.

She was happy and was permanently staying in Wonderland, and that was what mattered to most of the present guests.

Of course, this ceremony was just a symbolic act for her pleasure and reassurance. A representation of a tradition from her world, and a way for Blood to boast and gloat his victory at the game. True union and end of the game would come later on when Blood gave her his connector and she accepted it, a magical connection that would unite them forever. That would effectively end Alice's game of hearts and everyone else would go on with the terrible monotony of their lives as losers of an opportunity that came every once in a while when a foreigner was brought into the world called Wonderland.

If he had to be true to himself, Julius Monrey, the so called "mortician" and clock master of Wonderland, didn't want to be here and wanted to leave as soon as possible.

He was uncomfortable to say the least. Just like everyone in this world, as the rules said, he had fallen in love with the foreigner during her game, and just like for everyone, this wedding was a sweet sour moment and a painful reminder of what they had lost and would never have. Besides, something else happened thatleft him very anxious and confused.

Not that long ago there had been a huge storm and afterwards he found himself missing his memories from an extended period of time, months even. It had happened to everyone. That wouldn't have been so strange in this world and he would have dismissed it, had it not been because of the terrifyingly humongous quantities of clocks piled up everywhere in the clock tower waiting to be repaired so that they could become people once more. Whatever happened, it had included the biggest massacre Wonderland had ever seen.

That was bad because now he had so much work that he probably wouldn't finish repairing everything during his lifetime, much less at the constant rate people normally got killed in this world. But there was something even more disturbing.

When he had regained some composure after seeing all those hundreds of clocks, he went to his desk to get his tools and start working. There he found a note in a piece of paper that apparently had been there for a while. It said that someone's undeniable request to his role was that said person could undeniably order the mortician and control how, when, why and every single and possible condition regarding the repairing of clocks in whatever terms and means the person wanted. Of course, that had sounded crazy. But as if to prove him wrong, he had felt an intense heat burning at the back of his hand and a mark appearing briefly on his skin, and it wasn't a common mark either. It was the kind of mark that proved an oath and a pact directly to his role.

At that moment he had also suffered shadowed flashes of someone he couldn't place and things he couldn't remembered. Mere broken reflections of real memories of those months everyone had forgotten and he had ended up panting in the floor wishing to know WHO had written that note.

The music went quiet and the ceremony started when Alice reached the altar. A little later she finally said "_I do_". But that moment, out of nowhere, something heavy fell from the sky on top of the mortician. From the groans, it was obvious that it was a person.

Julius and the stranger shared a few confused and awkward moments in their attempts to get up while the sound of guns being pulled out and aimed at, filled the air. Luckily, as a deference to Alice no one shot immediately like they normally did.

The mortician was still dizzy by being hit with the full weight of a person, but when he saw the appearance of said person, he felt a strange pang of familiarity on his clock despite not recognizing anything regarding the weird black and plastic like armored person. The stranger admittedly looked dangerous, and somehow Julius immediately knew that this was the one who had written the note and was the one capable of controlling "when , where, how" and even "if" clocks were repaired. More dangerous still was that he knew that before anyone could shot, this person could literally sent Wonderland into extinction.

Nightmare gasped in shock after reading Julius thoughts, yet unaware that he couldn't read this strangers mind. _–" DON'T SHOOT!"-_ He warily told everyone and Grey got ready to stop any attempt against the weird person.

The silence was deafening until it was broken by a digitally distorted and undefined voice that came from the armored person, who was looking around in confusion and apparent discomfort, but without the slightest tint of fear.

_- Did I miss something?_ – Then the person looked at Alice and Blood and the situation that he (Julius though the person was probably was a he) had stumbled upon – _You're getting married? About damn time!_

Everyone was confused, and Julius guessed that maybe he wasn't the only one that felt something familiar about this person.

Then the person looked around once more. No gun had come down. He raised his hands to show that he wasn't holding anything in his gloved hands – _Gezz guys, give me a break. Everyone wants a fairy tale wedding but when I show up to curse the first born child, then I'm the jerk... _

Once again no one said anything, but more than one gun clicked to prepare a shoot.

-_Ok... I get it...- _The person sighed - W_e can talk about everything that happened later... And I do own an apology for having been dumped here without invitation… - _The person looked at Blood and Alice and moved his hand in front of him holding the 3 fingers up –_I'll give you 3 questions as a present... well 2 and something else._

_-Why would they want questions? – _Elliot March, the hatters 2° in command mocked the figure.

_-Trust me Elliot. They DO want those questions because I'm choosing them and they are 1- "Will theyir children be born with a clock or a heart?" and 2- "Will their descendants be faceless?..."_

Everyone was startled at such questions. No one knew the answers to that and they wondered who the hell was this person to know such things if indeed this person knew. Alice specially was completely anxious about those, but there was just something about this person that told her that she could trust her words, that "She" would tell her the truth... then she realized that she had said "she" for this person.

_-Who are you_?- Alice asked aloud what everyone was wondering.

_-What?_ – The digital voice sounded weak and the posture looked as if the person was taken aback while looking around the roleholders for signs of recognition.

Julius put two and two together. All the time that was gone from their memories had something to do with this stranger. He stood straight and spoke calmly to the person–"_They don't remember you"_

The person addressed the clock master completely – And you do Julius?

_-No, I don't but I want to speak to you._

The person's posture was unnaturally calm, but the voice betrayed that visage. _–"I see... If you don't remember... then perhaps is for the better..."_ – then the person turned to the married couple –"_I'll wait for maximum 30 minutes in your office Blood. I'll answer those questions and give you the other thing Alice..."- _The mysterious stranger took a couple steps towards the main hall, clearly knowing the way around, and then stopped to turn back and looking at everyone- "_I give you my mercenary word that I'm not planning anything._"

The personleft escorted by a couple of the hatter's faceless, ignoring everyone's comments and still pointed guns as the ceremony was resumed. After it, Julius was the first person to leave. He had dryly stood up and whished Alice happiness before storming out back to his territory.

His mind was in turmoil thanks to the party breaker.

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**Sadly I have limited time to write, so updates will be determined by which story is reviewed. **


	2. A forgotten sound

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**CHAPTER 2: A FORGOTTEN SOUND**

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The lonesome figure had been aimlessly walking throw the forest with uneasiness and uncertainty. Although the armor the person wore gave a human form, it made it natch impossible to provide a clue for the appearance of the person, the gender or how weak or strong he or she was. Not to mention that whenever the person spoke, it did so with a digitally distorted voice.

It started with a light disturbing chuckle that turned into a full out mad laughter as the person seemed to mock it's luck. It was chilling and terrible, but it suddenly stopped as if it had never happened when the person rolled aside to avoid a big sword getting stuck in the floor when he or she had been standing only a second ago.

The figure looked at the person that owned that sword. He was tall and wore an old bloodied and ragged coat and a mask.

"_That was quite the odd laugh. It even made me stop for a second"-_ The swordsman said.

The armored figure's posture was on alert but raised his arms up with seemingly no fear– _"I'm not looking for a fight Ace!" _

"_Too bad because a fight is looking for you!"-_ The cloaked man said and charged at the other person, surprised that the person knew his name and willing to eliminate him for that.

The person evaded, dodged or sidestepped every hit, however he didn't counterattack in any way.

"_Why aren't you fighting?"-_ Ace was actually having fun. Very few people could last a little against him and this person seemed to predict his movements quite well even if he was having trouble to match up his speed. So maybe he'd had a bit more fun before he did went for the kill.

"_Why for? First: We know that I can't win against you."-_ The person said and jumped back to avoid another slash- _"Second: If you want to kill me you easily can_"- The person once again backed away _-"and Third: You won't kill me until I speak with Julius"_

At the mention of Julius name, Ace kicked the person with a move he didn't knew he knew towards a tree, where he quickly put his sword against the person neck and reached to take off the mask suspecting something.

It was understandable that after taking off the gas mask and helmet thing the person wore, Ace, the knight of hearts and part time executioner at the prison when it was around, got so surprised to find that this person was indeed a girl with a face, she had olive green eyes and her hair had multiple shades of blond. His smile didn't faltered even though something in his memories stirred as his clock seemed to tick harder.–"_What is your role?"_ - He couldn't comprehend why he was lowering his sword.

"_I have none… but you can hire me as a mercenary. You already have…"-_ She looked at him with an intensity Ace somehow recognized. Then her eyes quivered almost imperceptibly as she looked away.- _"You really don't remember, do you?" _

Even though her voice was emotionless Ace detected something more he couldn't quite place. Yet he couldn't believe that she had no role. That was impossible! Unless….

He put his hand on over her chest but her armor was in the way. She didn't resist and he would have undressed her if he had figured out how the hell that weird armor was held together.

"_Yes Ace. I'm a foreigner."- _She lifted her forearm and a sleek black surface lit with many images passing fast as she pressed her gloved fingers over them.

"_Oh, really?"- _He was doubtful. But from the party crash she did seemed to know everyone.

She took her hand over her neck and moved something's in the collar of the suit and Ace was mesmerized by the sound of a heart beat coming from her.

_"Really. A second foreigner. "_– She sighed and looked at him looking quite defeated_ - "And I should go and speak with Julius just as I promised him._"

_"I'm still not sure. Let me hear it directly_" – This was confusing him. A second foreigner? That had been here for months before disappearing and everyone forgetting her? That was far too fantastical even for Wonderland's standards.

She rolled her eyes but proceeded to turn the sound off and then she began to unlatch her suit , taking of the protective upper plaques and then separating the air latch to peel off lightly the upper part over her breast til it was just above and covering her nipple.

"_Just listen Ace… Y'know? You also insisted on this the first time… but it was fine. After all, I did asked you to let me examine your clock._" – The woman had a nostalgic but depressed aura despite her aloof expression.

Ace struck his sword in the tree above her and she didn't react at all. He then held her hands at her sides to prevent her from moving and put his head over her chest.

The sounds from around the world ceased to exist and were replaced by the beat of a real heart. His eyes widened and then he closed his eyes to concentrate on the sound that he somehow recognized. It was different than Alice's, it was steady and calm, direct and strong… His hands grabbed harder her wrist and moved them above her head as if he at all costs wanted to prevent her from escaping and it was his own clock that seemed to be ticking faster.

An entire minute passed before she spoke – "_You have your prove Ace. Now let's go see Julius… please lead the way."_

He didn't know why, but this mysterious character seemed fun. And the surprise of her being a foreigner excited him. Yet, there was something wrong here. -"_You claim to know us all and you want me to lead you to the clock tower?"- _He separated from her and released her.

"_I'm in no hurry to meet anyone or explain things. However, if we get close to any territory's center I will deter you and change direction."-_She sighed while setting her armor on again.

Ace got his sword and sheathed it. Once again she didn't react. She seemed too calm. Not as if she was trusting him, but rather as if she didn't mind him at all.- "_So you wanna know why you are not remembered if indeed you were truly here? Or do you want to be remembered?"_

_"Not necessarily. However Julius did asked me to go and I promised I'd go. I also wanna hear what happened here._" – Her answer was mysterious and suspicious.

_"Then fair lady, let this knight escort you!"-_ Ace claimed dramatically. He didn't knew why he had done so but it was fun.

_"Very well, oh brave knight! Please lead this damsel out of the darkness and danger! "_ – She exclaimed in an equally dramatic way and upon seeing his quizzical look she laughed a bit before regaining her cool demeanor. She took a few steps ahead and waited for him. – "_Let's go Ace."_

Now Ace was more than curious. He might be slow to figure things out, but of one thing he was sure. He could have some fun with this foreigner.

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**Yes. I know it's short, but** **as I said , I've been having too much work and can barely work on a chapter per week if at all. **

**Also I was inquired as to the rate I'd be updating, and the truth is that there I will abandon various of these stories. That's what I meant by "updates will be determined by reviews". I love something no kuni no alice series and characters and I'd like to share the stories, so** **I'll be concentrating only on the 2 or maybe 3 stories that people like. So I'm setting a quota, that will also give me time to work on the chapters and update when that quota is met (Im not that greedy, with 3 or 5 reviews is enough). Yes, I know that it sounds bad from me, but I'm doing an MBA, dealing with work, taking carpentry classes, preparing various projects and trying to manage my life.**

**I also welcome any ideas because although I have where I want the stories to go, I don't have what happens in the road.  
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	3. A forgotten Acquaintance

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**CHAPTER 3: A FORGOTTEN ACQUAINTANCE**

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The woods seemed quieter than they should, or so it seemed to Aria, who had followed Ace without really speaking to him during their short journey. It had been more than awkward; normally they were talkative while traveling together and having "adventures", however, he didn't remember any of that and she was uncertain on how to act in this turn of events. Amazingly, the knight had been also very silent while observing her closely. At first he had tried starting some conversation and had asked questions but she had dismissed them saying that once they were with Julius she would answer so she wouldn't have repeat herself, and as for the conversation she had merely retorted short and abrupt answers that didn't gave away any intel on herself, and she didn't even knew why. But this setback put them in square one again, right?

She had expected him to be lost for far longer than merely 3 time changes, but he seemed quite eager to arrive to the tower and they hadn't even need to set camp; His route had been unusually straight for him. She had only needed to change course when they were heading to the amusement park; It had been odd but at the same time familiar when she told him to take another route. So many times had she gone out on "Adventure" with him, and yet it also seemed to have been so long ago... and now, nor did he, nor anyone seem to remember her.

She didn't knew what to do.

They were already in the town near the clock tower and it was eerily silent and empty.

Aria didn't want to speak, or rather she didn't knew what to say. Not after all that happened before she had been thrown into the lost country of Spades. The last she had seen of anyone was but a few glimpses of them fighting the Jabberwocky outside the barrier in the upper patio at the castle in Diamond. She had been fighting too but in the center of the frail. She had used all her tricks and weaponry and even then, in the end she and Alice had teamed up to use the winxy pistol like a rocket launcher. Then she had been thrown into the portal leading to Spades and it had been closed on the other side, leaving her trapped there... Spades... she wasn't even sure what had happened in Spades, her mind was still confused about what occurred there. Only of one thing she was certain. She was had made a deal with Wonderland and a deal had been made with her by someone she could not recall nor what that deal had consisted off. At least she remembered what she had asked Wonderland... even if she wasn't sure what she had done to earn it. Then... Then she had ended somewhere dark beyond the firmness of reality. She shocked with a shiver. She didn't even want to think about all she'd seen when she had found herself surrounded and trapped in those tendrils of darkness, all she had been subjected too again and again until the despair woke her up. She had forced and fought her way back for an undetermined amount of time till she saw an opening and found herself falling on top of Julius at the party.

She sighted and slouched her shoulders. For now she was back and she had to deal with the present situation. There was nothing for her to do anyways, but getting the whole panorama would be best before she did or tried anything.

"_And here we are!_"- Ace proclaimed happily when they finally reached the tower just when the time shifted to night - "_But you already knew that didn't you?"- _He smiled at her in that way that she had never been able to decipher but that insinuated that he was hiding something.

She advanced to enter the place but the he, very knight took a step forward and gallantly to open the door for her - "_After you_" – He obviously couldn't see her raise an eyebrow below the hood or the mask, but it was obvious that he was setting her in front to cut off any way for her to escape or turn back.

Aria could deal with that. Being paranoid was not second but first nature to her and she knew her way around if for any reason she needed to escape. They were strangers once again and she would do well to remember that he was not that nice or sane.

She entered the tower and didn't turn to look back at the knight trailing behind her along the familiar route towards Julius's office; however, there was something wrong.

It started with only a few, but very soon she saw hundreds of broken clocks eerily lying around everywhere, alone or in piles. As she reached the mortician's office she accelerated her pace and upon reaching the door, she didn't bother waiting for Ace to graciously open the door again for her. Without knocking she soundly opened the wooden door and let herself in.

Inside were even bigger piles of clocks everywhere.– _"Julius! What happened? Where the hell did all this clocks come from?_ - There weren't hundreds, there were thousands. Which meant that something very bad had happened after she fell through the looking glass into the country of Diamond; and whatever that had been, it had wiped a decent chunk of the population in general. It had been a massacre .

**JULIUS POV**

Julius practically jumped in his chair at the sudden interruption of the door slamming when it was opened and then he had been startled at the digitally distorted voice that followed it. He look up at the figure and quickly regained his composure. He had been expecting this person to come later or even not come at all. But the strangers presence someone made him anxious but also put him at ease– _"That's what I wanted to ask you about. As I said, we don't remember"_

The strangely clad figure looked carefully around once more while Ace stood in the doorway behind her and remained still for a few seconds before addressing the clock master. –"_Then what is it that you DO remember_ ?"

Julius leaved his tools and the clock he had been working on aside and looked warily at her and at the figure behind; somehow he was not surprised about the knave's presence, but he found it odd that Ace had managed to come here so fast after Alice's wedding. –"_Nothing. After the storm came we simply lost all memories from some time before it._"

"_Storm? " – _The person's head tilted to the side and then went to the coach and sat down. _– "Then how did you know about me_?"

Julius opened a drawer and took out a piece of paper before walking to stand in front of the person and show it. It was the piece of paper regarding an undeniable request– "I didn't and I don't."- He didn't let go of the paper, merely showed it at a readable level. -" Does this belongs to you?"

The paper remained in the air but the figure leaned forward to read it and then leaned back. – _"Yes. You made a contract with me. I'm a mercenary and you hired me for a... retrieval mission..."-_The person didn't seem to be able to stay still and rather kept looking around the piles of clocks._ - "Part of the deal involved that I would get paid an extra sum on kill count to those death's I caused directly or indirectly. And I guess I should collect the payment for the mission you hired me for..."-_ The person looked straight at Julius even if Julius could not see due to the dark but reflective facemask – _" I consider that first I need to settle that which happened before I we..._ " – The person changed the words in the middle of the sentence– " _Before I can figure out anything else. Which pile of clocks corresponds to my cause_? "

"_Can you prove such claims?"_ – Ace asked and walked to situate himself behind the couch and the person.

The mercenary nodded and turned to Julius- _"Of course... Proof is needed. I understand._ "- The words sounded sour despite the distortion or the monotone tone –" That clock you were working on right now... Clock master... you CAN'T repair it until I say so."

Julius expression was baffled and then offended, but he needed to know if indeed this person could control him regarding something so important. He went back to his desk and took the clock to work on it, but just as the mercenary had said, he was unable to repair it. No matter how much or what he tried, he couldn't.

"_What was the other part of the deal?"-_ Ace was surprised too, but it was more curiosity than the horror Julius showed.

"_Is that prove enough?_"- The mercenary ignored the knight's question on purpose._ -_ "_Ok, you can repair it now Julius... but first tell me what is the last thing you remember before that storm or whatever. I require as many details as possible in order to process and calculate action courses. "_

Julius was more and more baffled by this, but there was also a sense of deep familiarity in this person that he couldn't place, except for the brief time when Alice had resided in the tower... and that was it.

Julius leaved the clock aside and closed his eyes tightly – _"The last I remember is a few weeks after Alice moved to the hatter's mansion._ "- This stranger also seemed to have been familiar with Alice for what everyone saw at the wedding . -"_Now tell who are you and what do you know about the rest of the clocks. How did so many accumulated here?"_

"_Wouldn't it be that this person made it so they couldn't be repaired?" – _Ace was resting his hand dangerously on the hilt of his sword while leaning casually forwards in the coach towards the person.

The armored stranger looked away and took some interminable seconds for answering and Julius wondered if that had indeed been the case.

"_Then why would I have asked where they came from? And Julius can clearly repair them... it's just that there are too many for him to do so. _" – The mercenary stood up and moved to the door, but Ace moved faster and stood in the door frame to block the way out- "_I don't know where they come from but I plan to find out what happened during this time I ... I was not around._"

"_How long have you been away?_"- Ace's fake smile remained in place despite his menacing aura, that the person didn't seem to notice.

"_That's something else I intend to figure out."-_The person fearlessly took a step closer to the knave_-"Move aside Ace."_

"No"- He crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame- "You haven't even told us anything about you Miss Mercenary "

"Miss!?" – Julius's mouth remained open for a second while the pair ignored him.

"_I won't, not until I know more. And maybe it's for the best if you don't remember."-_She took her hand into a first and put it over her chest. _-" And you can't force me Ace, not even Joker can..."- She looked away and down- "Oh yeah...you don't remember that either."_

At the mention of Joker both men straightened up, Julius in surprise and discomfort and Ace with even more curiosity than before. If she knew Joker then the possibilities weren´t nice at all.

She then looked back at Ace with decision and conviction written all over her-"_However I understand that at least there's a pile of clocks that I'm being paid for and those are my responsibility. So Julius will hire me to help him with those. I obviously can't do the final touches, but I can help in assembling the general line so that he can repair them faster. _"

Ace laughed loudly at that. The clock master would never let anyone touch the clocks unless they were being delivered to him, much less allow help in repairing them- " _You're funny Miss Mercenary. Ha,ha! You think Julius will allow anyone to ..."_

"_You´re hired as my assistant._" – Julius said without thinking, and covered his mouth when he did so -" _What! How...!?"_

Ace bit his tongue while laughing to stare at Julius, and Julius stared in shock at what he had said. Both males' eyes widened and looked between each other before looking at her.

"_Don't mind it. It's just part of the deal I have with this world... If I ask for a job I get it."- _She shrugged her shoulders and raised her hands in a nonchantly way.

"_Wait... This world!? Does that means that you..."- _Now it clicked to Julius, she was not a faceless, not even a roleholder as he had considered.

"_Yes Julius. I'm a foreigner_"- She turned around to face the mortician while giving her back to the executioner.

"_How fun, right?"_ - Ace put his hands on her shoulders and leaned forward to look at Julius. She flinched at his touch put didn't move away. - "_What if I hire her as junior clock collector too?"_

"_You can't do that Ace."_ – Julius eyebrow switched and he unconsciously took a step forward while she ended between the two men's chests.

"_Im not an assassin, just a mercenary, and a white neck one. Im not killing anyone Mr. executioner_"- She didn't seem fazed but it was clear that she knew about them far more than what they suspected. Or rather, they had let her know more than they normally would have. Which meant that there was a change that they had gotten somewhat close to her.

Ace rested his head on top of hers and looked down with a smiled- "_Don't worry. "Junior clock collector" means adventure partner_."- Then he looked back at the mortician with a happy grin in his face- "_Yes I can. It's not against the rules."- _His eyes seemed playful, but his grin was dangerous -"_Plus I can keep an eye on her_" – He removed his head from hers to stand tall and look at Julius in the eyes before patting her on the head - " _What about it Miss Mercenary? I'll pay you good" ;)_

At the mention of money she perked and smiled. - "_OK _" :D

Julius took a step back and looked between the too. Then his eyes narrowed and he pinched the brick of his nose feeling a migraine approaching. Somehow he knew that this two would cause him trouble.

Now he was the one needing to sit down, but first he needed to know more about her and not just because he wanted to know. - "_Who are you really? You hadn't even state your name"_

She hesitated.

Ace grip on her shoulders had not been released and she had no way of escaping. She threw back her hood and revealed multishaded blond hair and a long sinuous braid that escaped from the nape of her head. –"_I don't think seeing me will matter but..." _– Her tone was undefinedly plain but it held a tint of sadness; she sighted and took off her helmet.

Julius hadn't expected what he saw. She was a young woman, probably around her mid twenties, with olive grin eyes and a stoic expression plastered over her pale skin. And now he knew that he knew her, even if he could not recall her.

"_You may call me Aria Hadron Scherzi. Im a white neck mercenary and I'm the second foreigner_."

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	4. Desicions

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CHAPTER 4: **DECISIONS**

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Julius' clock seemed to tick harder for a second and he felt anxiousness butterflies in his stomach but at the same time he felt some kind of unknown relief at her presence. He could hardly believe that this person in front of him existed. A second foreigner… he could have never guessed it; much less that this person had somehow gotten such power over his role but it seemed to be the case. Which was implausible. No roleholder would ever make a deal by their role without an utterly extreme cause and for Wonderland to accept and validate such thing, like a deal regarding the clocks, was inconceivable.

Her olive green eyes were deep and intriguing and fixated on him. Her hair had multiple shades of blonde that framed her pale skin and her expression was unnaturally impassive. A second alter she turned her gaze away with something that could have passed as disappointment.

Quite attentive, Ace grinned.–" _And where did you stayed last time Miss mercenary? If you have such deal with the clock master then you two were close, right?"-_ The knight dug into the obvious and Julius understood where the knight was going with this.

"_I also have a deal with you Ace. Two in fact. But I never used it…"- _She vaguely said, clearly not about to share the truth. _-"Since you don't remember it doesn't matter._ "- After having proof that even looking at her didn't immediately triggered any memories she needed need to think things more carefully .- "_Where I stayed? Everywhere and nowhere. But now that you mention it…_"- She once again turned away to leave. - "_I shall be on my way. I'll come back later to settle the details_."

She walked towards the door. But Ace grabbed the braid that ran from the base of her nape and reached below her butt, and tugged on it. In a second, she turned around as she unleashed one of the blackened hidden blades in her forearms and did an upper cut. Ace let go of her braid, having noticed that there was a something like a wire inside it, and evaded with a bright smile on his face. He hadn't expected that. _"Wow! That was nice! Maybe we can practice later._ " :D –Ace was quite happy. She did have more skills than merely evading.

She slowly sheathed her blade. Shifting her eyes between the door and the roleholders or the window, calculating scape routes. – "_Sorry. But I'm kinda on edge right now..."- _She managed to sound calm_ - "Please don't touch me."_

Julius saw the exchange this with initial confusion, but he understood that this was probably very hard for her. Foreigners could have a hard in time in Wonderland because of all they lost in their world, and she had lost things twice. Once from her world and then when everyone forgot. Still, he felt as if this was familiar but also as if there was something wrong besides what was obvious. He just couldn't put the finger on what. -"_It's too late to go out. You can stay here"_

Aria considered her options but didn't look at the guys when she finally nodded. "_Alright. I'll stay for the night. I'll be taking a bath in the spare room._ "- and with that she went away and towards the stairs with a slow and obviously tired pace.

Both guys stood there, and when Ace considered she was out of hearing range, he turned to Julius with excitement in his voice. – "This is so mysterious and exiting. A mysterious lady full of secrets. Should I kill her before she orders you around or would you like a foreigner to do that+ " X)

"Don't be ridiculous"- Yet he did though about it. Someone with such power was dangerous… but why hadn't she used it immediately? - "It's obvious that she is hiding it and is not willing to tell us what really happened."- Julius said the obvious to no one in particular and then he finally figured what was the "off" vibe he had been feeling. – "_She was too calm. Too controlled and rational about this."_

"_She's probably in shock or something"- _Ace dismissed it and then he perked up at another detail -" _I wonder how far has her game gone; now that Alice is already taken…"_

Julius didn't need to answer. They knew what that meant. This was another round and another chance.

Up in the bathroom, Aria was already submerging her tired body into the hot water. A luxury she hadn't got in a long while.

She had doubted staying for the night. After all, roleholders were the biggest treat for her and right now they didn't even remember her; and if they didn't then her own faction, "The lullaby", wouldn't remember her either. Staying had been a calculated risk. Julius knew of her having the power to control how, when, where and any detail regarding clocks. That was very dangerous. He could decide easily that she needed to be eliminated before she decided that clocks couldn't be repaired at all… something that already happened once. And then, if Ace decided to kill her she stood no chance.

_**("Maybe it's good that they don't remember after all..")**_

Yes, it was dangerous staying anywhere near them, but the truth was that she was utterly tired and still hurt, barely at 40% of her capacities. She didn't know how safe were her safe hidden lairs or if they even remained. She didn't know if anything had changed or how much, and she would not be able to defend herself properly if engaged.

She held her breath and submerged under the water; she came out a few seconds later. This situation wasn't on any of her plans or projections and that leaved her confused as to what to do. She concentrated on cleaning herself and on checking on her wounds. Most were only blunt hits thanks to her armor, but she also had some deep and long gashes where the connective needles of the suit had being pressed to much on her flesh from the hardest impacts. None would cause a permanent handicap, but using the suits abilities would hurt for a while and her own body's responses would be less affective.

Aria sighed. Despite the hot bath, she was too tense and that wasn't good. She needed to calm down and analyze things in a rational way. Her specialty was thinking and applying knowledge, so that's what she needed to do. Identify the factors on this situation and plan according to them. However, she had very limited info on those factors.

Her hands skillfully undid, cleaned and braided her hair over the wire again. She was once again on step zero as when she arrived first into Wonderland, right?

"No."- She shook her head and her fingers tapped on the edge of the tube as she processed this. The situation had changed and so had she.

_**(" But how?")**_

First she though on the situation. No one remembered her. Which meant that all her alliances, jobs and truces had become null and most likely everyone would see her as a treat; and she truly was one but no one knew just how much, while she already knew how everything worked, everyone's strengths and weaknesses, their resources and their behaviors. Mostly because they had hired her for high administrative management and improvement in basically all the territories. That set the surprise and knowledge factors highly in her favor.

Then came her own resources. She was carrying all she had, but she had hidden more of her stuff in some secret places along with a bunch of money. It was possible that those were still intact. But those resources were meager. Her intel was her triumph card. The amount of info and knowledge she had was monstrous. All those years of formal education and science geekiness had paid off, and she could always count on the digitized libraries she carried in her hard drives. And that was just for her own world. She had discovered and unraveled a lot of how Wonderland work in a scientific way. She knew what the game was really about and how, what was the real value of a foreigner, how rules affected the roleholders and territories, how to meddle and redirect mana energy… she knew too much. And that, although an advantage, was a danger to herself. If anyone knew just how much she knew, she would be targeted for the info and then would surely be targeted in order to be taken advantage off and use her as the power source she was because of being a foreigner. In that sense, keeping her anonymity was the safest for her.

There was also to consider that the rules still applied no matter what. As long as she didn't attack anyone directly she was considered an official neutral force. And she still had an undeniable request from all of their roles and could use it in case of real necessity. A deal she had gotten when they sent her into a suicidal mission to get Alice back or out of the way. Something she had done by getting her out of the conflict zone and sending her straight to the prison. She smiled lightly, thinking that her dear and only friend, Joker, had probably gotten some fun with that. Then she frowned. He probably didn't remember her either.

She got out of the tube and began drying herself.

In any case, if they learned that they owned her something so big, something that could potentially be world ending serious, like what she had done with Julius, they would surely try to eliminate her before she did anything. Sure, she could voice things or transmit them neurally to the processor and speaker or her suit and really fuck everything up in a second; but that was not her intention.

She went stiff for a second. What if they remember some of the worst parts of what she had done or caused but not all the interactions they had with her!? Under that assumption she was fried.

There was also the game of hearts to consider. Her game had been going on for a while and because she was unable to love on a biological scale, it would go on probably until she died. But if the roleholders learned that the game going on around was her's and not Alice's then they would center their attention on her and the worst possibilities could happen.

She just couldn't risk it. Not until knowing what had happened and decided on what to do. She would have to use Julius and Ace as test subjects to see if constant exposure to her made them remember her, if memories came back or the amnesia was permanent. She would also get time to research how had it been that a "storm" caused them to lose the memories, all while she pondered on a longer plan. She was unable to go back to her world anymore and would never be part of this. So for now it was just survival.

….

The next morning Aria was already in the kitchen preparing coffee when Julius came down. She was wearing just a very tight t-shirt and small hot-pants shorts, both were fitting perfectly over her body and leaved practically nothing to the imagination.

The first thing Julius did was stare with wide eyes in her direction. She caught his gaze and immediately jumped to the side to evade any possible attack before noticing that nothing was behind her.

_"Why did you did that!?" – _Julius was astonished by her reaction.

Aria face palmed. This was a déjà vu- "_Once again…_ _If someone in front of you looks like there's something behind you, you don´t stupidly turn around to see what will kill you. You get out of the way." – _She explained in a dumb tone as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but she had now figured what he was gonna say_ – "You may not remember it but we already passed through this. So I will save us time and get on with this briefing. My clothes are not indecent and they are the only thing I have besides my suit. I do know how to cook and last time my coffee got 87 points."_

To Julius was no doubt anymore that he used to know her. The only person he had taken the bother to rate the coffee was Alice. If this girl received a grade, and such good one as 87, then there was no doubt that she had gotten to know him in the past. Before he could say anything in retort she continued.

"_And don't even start comparing me to Alice. That's annoying __ Mr. god of life. I am not your average foreigner. __"-_ Aria knew that he didn't remember, so she had to at least mention things again to avoid getting annoyed later.

"_And that is something to worry about or something to enjoy?"-_ Ace appeared in the doorway and took a seat as if this was normal. However his eyes got fixed on her big chest.

Julius took a seat besides the knight.

_"Good thing you are here Ace, that way I don't need to repeat things."- __She served 3 cups of coffee and passed them theirs before taking her's. _Her expression changed a few times as if she wasn´t sure which expression was appropriate, in the end it settled into awkwardness. _– "There are various things. First… I will not tell you what happened. If you don't remember that's your issue and it might be for the best."-__ She looked at Julius harshly and then calmly to Ace__-"I know you will try to compare me to Alice, but you must understand how fundamentally different I am from her… " __– She returned her attention to Julius, silently making him shut up and listen –" __She managed to survive only because someone was always there to help her. A burden to others."- __She said it as a fact without any ill intent- "__Compared to her I am stronger, way more capable and far more resilient and self-sufficient. But compared to her I am also far more vulnerable. I know it perfectly well, no one understands it better than me." –__Her gaze hardened__ -" I´m far more vulnerable because I don´t have anyone to help me, I have nothing but my own resources. I can´t trust anyone and I doubt anyone can trust me. I can and will only depend on myself"-__Her grip on her coffee mug had gotten stronger and her eyes tingled with indescribable burning cold emotion__- "I know I will never fit anywhere, It had always been that way and I. don´t .care. You don't remember me or anything and I may know you well, but I am well aware that to you I'm nothing that a weird stranger right now. I will do my work as I state it. But don't count on anything else."- __Then she took a quick sip of her coffee- "__Also I'd like to remain anonymous. Anyone knowing about a second foreigner for the time being would be detrimental to my health.__"_

Both guys were surprised, Ace was more amused than anything while Julius was confused as to why she would be thinking that her situation was so dire. He was beginning to really want to know what the hell had happened to make a foreigner act like this. Had it been because of something they did?

Ace smiled an put his arm over Julius's - _" That's all right Miss Mercenary foreigner. You can be our own little secret_."- He was apparently quite pleased with the situation. He happily took a sip of his coffee.- "_But of course to keep it that secret better you should stay at the tower_."

Aria took another sip of the hot beverage and considered it. -"_Fine. A least until I finish helping with my pile of clocks or until I need to" _

Julius wondered what was really going on.

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5 reviews on any story to update .


	5. Julius' frustration

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**CHAPTER 5: JULIUS' FRUSTRATION**

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Ace finished his coffee and mysteriously went back to the castle a.s.a.p. while Aria prepared breakfast for two in the midst of a very uncomfortable silence that was finally broken by Julius.

"_You said that your name was Aria, right? _"-Julius kept looking at her with quite many doubts in his mind.

"_No. I said you could call Aria. Aria Hadron Scherzi_"- She served the breakfast, cheese quiche, coffee and juice. She took a seat to begin eating.

"_So you aren't even telling us your name_?- He rubbed his temple and looked at the food. This situation baffled him as much as this foreigner.

"_Perhaps. If you remembered you'd know_"- She took small but fast bites that barely hid her hunger – "_I didn't poison the food, y'know... and the fridge is empty... again."_

Julius ignored the food comments- "_Why do you intent to help me repair with the clocks. That's not something a foreigner or anyone else should do."_

"_Foreigner or not I wanna do it. I'm getting paid for those deaths, so it's natural that I take care of the job completely. I'm a professional._"- She had already finished the food and seemed to still be hungry.

Julius took a bite at the food and s noted that the it was actually good, but the breakfast was the last thing in his mind.- "_So you do know what happened at least to that pile of clocks."_

"_Yes_"- She didn't add anything else.

"_But you won't tell me?"-_ This was giving him a headache. He vaguely wondered why Ace had leaved so fast.

"_No"-_ She stood up and from somewhere she found an apple, it was a old but she didn't care and began eating it.

Julius sighed. He somehow knew that it was pointless to argue with her and that she would do whatever she wanted... which was her right and privilege as a foreigner. She wasn't bound by the rules and was free to choose and do whatever she wanted.- "_Can you at least tell me for how long you were here or for how long you disappeared?"_

"_No"_ – That was true, she couldn't tell him because she didn't know herself.

Julius could almost feel a vein pop over his eyebrow. He sighed again with exasperation -"_Is there anything you will tell me at all?"_

As she finished the apple she closed her eyes to consider his question. When she opened her olive green orbs again, her cold and calculating gaze trapped Julius' own eyes. -"_Use me well. I'm a high class 'white neck' mercenary and I'll only be here until that specific pile of clocks gets repaired. "_

Julius gaze didn't hesitate. -"_What do you mean by 'White neck'?"-_ She was confusing him a lot and he had a hunch that she had done so before.

"_Normal mercenaries are hired combatants. They're paid to find the danger and then wreak violence until it stops being dangerous_. " – She held his gaze with cold determination -"_I can do that but I'm not that good at it. A white neck one, is someone you use for 'white neck' issues like dealing economic havoc, trashing markets, destroying funds… I can also be hired fpr raising developments, implementing techniques and technologies... At the core I'm someone that resolves problems, not necessarily with direct violence, a 'freelancer' if you will. Although I can in fact be used for more traditional missions that would cost you extra. My specialty is information and technologies. And of those I have plenty of knowledge. So __use me__ well, 'how' will depend on your wits and necessities_. "

Julius felt very uncomfortable; the way she had said "use me" and the way she used the verb had been strange and with a dangerously low tone that gave him a bad vibe, but at least she had answered, so he decided to question her further.- _"So you'll stay here until those clocks are repaired... Where are you planning to go then? Back to your world."_- His own questions caused him discomfort. He didn't know why.

"_That should be irrelevant to you. But as I told you, I can't go back to my world and I will never be part of this."- _She mysteriously insisted.

This was getting very frustrating for Julius. He finished his breakfast and tried to order his thoughts.

He couldn't get mad. This girl was just a foreigner, a girl that had lost her world and all she knew… twice if you considered that things were as if she hadn't been here before. Whatever had happened before had been forgotten by everyone but her, all those she had come to know... and if her game had actually progressed... it was probably very hard on her and she wanted to maintain the distance to not get hurt more. He understood it because Alice had leaved without a second though to go with the hatter, but not before getting close to him, perhaps to close for his own liking, but that was how the game was played. With this girl however was different somehow, she was the one trying to keep the distance and that was probably for the better, because she would leave eventually anyways, just like Alice had, except that this time the foreigner had at least warn him about it. There were no vague implications or hopes, just cold certainty. Yet he couldn't help but feel the pull of the game and that there was far more behind her behavior.

"_I know that the fact that everyone forgot you is hard but…"_ – He tried one more time.

"_It's not just that you forgot, it's "what" you forgot."-_ She was being mysteriously vague again.

"_Then why don't you tell me what I forgot."-_ It bothered him greatly that he didn't even know what he might have done before or what may had happened to her.

"_I'd rather see if you remember yourself. " – _She finished the conversation.

She got up and to head back upstairs, when she walked past Julius, the mortician saw that the back of her t-shirt was bloody and it was fresh. He stood up to stop her by putting his hand on her shoulder, but she stiffed at his touch and not even a second later she threw a round kick that hit him in the arm and sent him away.

Julius had been surprised by her reaction. It had been exactly like the night before when Ace had pulled on her braid.

Aria looked at Julius with a somewhat startled face, as if what she had done hadn't been intentional, just an automatic reaction, and Julius wondered once again what the heck must have happened to her that made her act this way. A foreigner reacting that violently defensive was completely unnatural unless they were getting the madness.

"_Sorry, but as I said yesterday._ _I'm quite on edge, please don't touch me without warning… better not touch me at all. _"- She took a step back from him, almost as if she feared he would retaliate. Her reaction had been worse than with Ace.

"_You are bleeding"-_ He plainly said and pointed at her.

"_?"_- She seemed confused.

"_Your back"-_ He kept pointed, surprised that she was not aware of it.

"_Oh... ignore it."-_ She dismissed it as if it wasn't important. Her face didn't even seem worried.

"_You need see a medic_."- He insisted.

"_Maybe, but remaining in anonymity is safer for the moment. If I don't sense it then it's probably nothing too serious"_- It wasn't that it was a meager issue, it was that she was simply too numb to feel it.

"_You are irritably troublesome_"- He argued, not understanding how she was dismissing it. She was bleeding, had been for apparently some time and she hadn't even notice. It might not have been a bleed to death thing, but it wasn't just a nosebleed either. He also couldn't comprehend how she though remaining anonymous was more important than getting medical attention.

"_You've called me that before..."-_ She murmured to herself and began climbing the stairs, unaware that Julius had heard her.

"_I'll go get medical supplies at least"_ – The mortician called to her; his clock felt as if it was under weight. Had he done something to her before? The way she acted was not normal or healthy at all.

She stopped for a second to answer but didn't bother to look behind.- "_That would be appreciated but it's unnecessary. I can manage myself."_

By now Julius was mixed between wanting to help or strangle her. He stood up, and rather than following her upstairs, he went out of the tower and towards the nearest clinic.

Not too long after, Julius arrived at the clinic; it had been established not too long ago, probably during the time that was missing from his memory. It was small but neat and looked more like a spa than a hospital. He went directly to the drugstore and asked for first aid supplies and whatever could be needed to treat injuries.

From behind the lady at the counter an old doctor and director of the place came to attend him in person.

"_Oh? The clock master... It is an honor to have you in our clinic sir. How can we help you?"-_ The old man respectfully addressed Julius. No one wanted to piss off a roleholder, much less the one in charge of clocks.

"_I just need supplies for a first aid kid in case. Especially to heal cuts and lacerations. Someone I know got injured_. " – Julius wanted to respect her wish to remain anonymous.

The old man looked at him and knew that there was more to it, Roleholders healed very fast; however it wasn't his business.-" _Of course sir. May I provide assistance in any other way? If you require it we can attend patients in other locations with absolute confidentiality, or if you prefer I can at least provide counsel. "_- The man said to Julius and then politely added-"_Please do remember to clean and disinfect any would before applying the balm and bandages."_

Julius nodded in acknowledge. In truth he wasn't good with healing, he just repaired clocks. Foreigners were something he couldn't fix. He tough about the bloody circles on her back and tried to imagine what may had caused them. - "_How long does it takes to heal punctures for a person? "_

"_That depends sir, but at least a few days if they are a bit deep."-_ The doctor knew that Julius was not talking about a roleholder. Those with duties would take only a few time changes to regenerate. But normal people took longer – "_Don't worry sir. It doesn't take that long. Just imagine if it was a foreigner. That could take even weeks and would scar, ha, ha_." – The man joked but he noticed the eyes of the mortician go wide for a second and stiff.

The information hit Julius like cold water. She was a foreigner, and no matter how tough she looked, she wasn't as strong; and just like she had said, she was very vulnerable... and she was alone in the tower... Injured... And he didn't know how hurt she was. Although she had been wearing very little, he hadn't really paid attention to any other possible wounds.

"_If you deem it sir, I can personally attend your friend... with total discretion_ ".- The doctor reassured Julius.

"_Thank you, but that shall not be necessary_" – Julius said, paid for the supplies and walked away to return to the tower.

The old man watched the mortician go away, and made a mental note to report his reaction to his boos "The Berceuse", the faction leader of the "Lullaby", a now wide underground organization created by the mercenary foreigner Aria Hadron Scherzi. It might not be anything important but it could perhaps give them information that could be used or sold. For the moment he was more focused on finding out what had happened with the stranger that had crashed into the hatter's wedding. The rumors had gone wide about a person falling from the sky wearing strange armored gear and acting quite lightly around the roleholders. That had been of great interested to the lullaby, who were desperately looking for their true boss with fanatical determination, especially when everyone else in Wonderland seemed to have forgotten about her. If the person was hurt, medical attention would be requested sooner or later.

Back in the tower, Julius went straight up to his office with the supplies in hand. When he entered he was surprised once again. The place was neat and some amount of clocks were organized in piles and boxes clearly labeled with what they probably needed in a way that they could be worked on by steps.

"_I'm not good with analog devices, but I expect that implementing a steps methodology for the repair process will improve the restoration rate by at least 30%"_- She was seated cross legged on the floor and checking a disarmed clock, pressing her fingers on the flat back surface of a small and thin device the size of a small book. Her back was still bloody and when Julius got close, he saw a representation of the clock she had at her side, like a diagram, but one that moved into a virtual space. It was amazing but creepy.

"_Don't play with the clocks."-_ He got down to take the clock and it's pieces away from her hands with care and noticed how she stiffed when he got close.

"_I'm not playing. I'm learning"_- She stood up and got away from him, going towards the coach to play with the device.

Julius left the clock in his desk and then turned to her.

"_Let me see your back."_ – He went back to her and showed her the supplies.

"_No."-_She immediately said, then she seemed to ponder how to correct her bluntness-_ "I appreciate it, but I can take care of it. If you give me the items I will tend to it myself, I'm also conscious that the cost of the supplies will be subtracted from my payment."_

As if she had not thrown him out of the curve enough, now she was even thinking he was gonna charge her for the items! Just what had he done to her for having made her so distrustful and cold?

"_Your back is hurt. You can't reach it yourself"- _He tried to reason.

"_I'll manage_"- She stubbornly answered. Not quite sure herself why she was not simply accepting the help knowing well that she really needed it. Then she remembered how they had sent her on a suicidal mission to get Alice. They hadn't second though about exchanging her life for Alice's. Even if they didn't remember it.

He groaned.- "_Just let me see it and help you_."- His patience was already very thin. _"I won't tell you which pile of clocks correspond to you if you don't let me."_

"_I could force you to tell me_"- Oh yes, she could, but she didn't want to resort to that.

"_Perhaps. But that doesn't change the fact that you are hurt and need help_"

She was the one who groaned this time. She forced herself to admit it and accept the help. It was the most rational thing to do. – "_Fine_"- She turned around on the coach and gave him her back, then she took off her t-shirt without any care for shame.

Despite just seeing her back he blushed. She wasn't wearing any visible bra and she cared not about getting topless in front of him.

"_You wanted to see, right!?"_ – She sounded annoyed.

"_mmhh… are you wearing any… cover in front?"-_ He was blushing madly.

"_huh? Yeah, nipple pastries, why? –_She remembered that Julius was somewhat shy in some aspects_ –"Or is it you want me to take them off? _"- She waited a couple seconds and before he answered anything she continued- " _You insisted on helping on my back and I'm not gonna turn around._"

He approached and sat besides her in the coach. He examined her back. She had a big tattoo running from the base of her nape and all along the back, and he could see many engraved metallic lines running all over her flesh, but there were also clearly visible many purple hits, scratches and some lacerations, at her side he could see the edge of a scar from a very big cut that ran probably to her front. Most noticeably there were punctures all along her spine as if needles had been pushed inside her skin. They were fresh.

"_How did you got this_!?"- He gulped and noticed how she stiffed when he touched her back. This was worse than what he had expected. And for some reason he was way more worried than he thought he'd be, maybe unconsciously he remembered something, but what?

"_That's irrelevant to you_."

"_It's not! Troublesome woman_." – It bothered him that she seemed to think that he was so cold and heartless.

She remained silent for a few seconds- "_Are you going to do something else or just stare at my back? "_

Julius took the cotton balls soaked in alcohol and used one to clean his hands and then another to clean her wounds. She didn't move at all. -_"You won't tell me about this either, won't you?"- _He said with a softer tone_._

"_No."- _Her own tone as quite mechanical.

"_At least tell me... Did I did something to you to cause you to be this distrustful?"- _This has passed from being general to bother him personally.

"_I was already more than distrustful even before coming to this world. But yes, you all did something to worsen things. I'm just a stranger to you now and it's not your problem. Don't bother."_

Julius bit his lips and kept silent. How could they have hurt a foreigner this much?

….

At the hatter's mansion, Blood Dupre, the mad hatter was enjoying a tea after finishing the preparations from his little homey moon vacation. He and Alice would be gone for a couple weeks, and in the meantime, all the business would be taken care of properly by Elliot. But there was one issue than interested him more, and it had everything to do with the stranger that had fallen down and interrupting his wedding.

That person had been far more than strange and far more mysterious than anyone could know.

Just as the stranger had said, he had waited for him at his office when the ceremony ended. There he had greeted him and Alice as if they knew him and had thrown Alice a purple ring with the unicorn emblem, but it had not been any common ring. As soon as Alice had it in her hands it had turned into the winxy pistol, a legendary weapon that could only compare to the vorpal sword. He had been far more than surprised, but legendary weapon aside, the person had indeed answered the questions as promised. He had indeed answered those questions he promised to answer at the wedding, and for some reason, both he and Alice believed the person.

The mysterious stranger had disappeared right afterwards and hadn't been heard off since then. But Blood had already arranged with Elliot to convince this person of visiting the mansion again, surely this person had even more juicy information, and that was information he wanted, or at least information he didn't want anyone else to have.

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**And Aria can be really stubborn and hard to deal with if she decides so, right? Poor Julius, he is most likely very confused and Ace is not going to help on that situation… or is he?**

**However, from Aria's POV she really has no reason to trust them at all. She was already paranoid from the beginning and after all that happened to her she probably can't even comprehend herself anymore. What's left for her anyways? No one even remembers her… except for her faction that seem to be trying to get her back somehow. And the hatters seems to want to get that person… I wonder how that one will play out.**

**How do you think the lullaby faction could have changed during this time? **


	6. Ace s fun date

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CHAPTER 6: **ACE'S FUN DATE**

**.**

Ace had wanted to roam and find all the attendants to the wedding to comply with the lady's wishes to remain anonymous, and what better way than to kill all who those saw her at the wedding?

This was all very exciting. There was a secret foreigner that was playing the game with only him and Julius while everyone else was still struck with Alice. She was definitely NOT like Alice and he wanted to test how far he could take things before she broke down. He chuckled; he'd like to see how this foreigner reacted to be the cause of all those deaths. But then again, she was mercenary, and for what he knew of mercenaries, they weren't exactly emotional guys.

That had been his plan. However, rather than reaching other territories and getting lost as always, he found himself back to the tower faster than he expected and to a very amusing sight. Julius and the foreigner were giving him the back, seated at the couch, and she was shirtless and bra-less with Julius hands on her tattooed back.

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"_You're pulling the moves on Aria without ME, Julius?! How could you!? I thought what we had was something special_! -** XD**

**.**

Julius turned around and stood up with a heavily blushing and an annoyed but surprised expression. -_"What are you doing here!? Weren't you going to the castle?"_

_._

"_Oh? So my dear Julius wanted me out of here so he could get alone naughty time with our new foreigner?_ " – Ace's smiled remained- "_Don't worry Julius. I don't mind sharing, I can have time with her later, you can enjoy and finish what you were starting.I'll just stay here and watch."- _He put his finger to his chin –"_Although now that I'm here I would like to join."_

"_It's not what you think!"- _Julius could feel a vein beginning to pop on his forehead** *_***

"_But this seems fun and I'm part of this little foreigner secret, so I get to share too._ "- Ace pouted.

"_Typical…"-_ She murmured while rolling her eyes.

"_So sharing you was something common between us?_ "- Ace smiled even more at the insinuation **:D **

"_What!?"-_ Julius eyes widened at thinking the exact same thing as Ace.

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She ignored the question and stood up, still facing away from them, and putting back her shirt on. - _"You accidentally ended up here again, right Ace?" _

_._

"_Or maybe I wanted to come here and so I'm here."-_ Ace answered. He had seen the blood stains on the fabric of her t-shirt – _"Oh Ary! You need to go shopping. Your shirt is muddy!" _– Of course he knew that the brownish red stains weren't mud, but he had come up with a plan that he wanted to try.

"_Ary?"_ – She turned around fast to see him and her eyes gained a cold gleam _-"Aren't you getting too familiar with someone you just met a little while ago?"_ – She snarled, but at the same time she felt certain warmness in the way he had said that word. He had begun calling her that not too long before the concert at the amusement park, which was the point when everything span out.

"_But don't we know you far more that you are letting us know?"-_ His goofy smiled remained in place despite being surprised by her harsh reaction, and this question obviously meant far more than his words, but that passed undetected by her- "_Shouldn't we get more familiar if we'll be working and living together?"_

"_We aren't living together Ace!"-_ Julius said with a faint blush, but the truth was that she at least was going to be living with him for the time being.

"_You are, and I'll be moving in._ " **:D **

"_You can't do that. You have to fulfill your role 'knight'._ "- Julius was completely serious.

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Ace smiled faltered for less than a second before rearranging – "_I already pass much time here or adventuring. There wouldn't be any difference. I'm just changing my base camp."- _He then put his arm over Julius shoulder and with his other hands held Julius jaw towards him as he leaned closer – "_Don't worry Julius; I'll keep our little relationship secret._"

Julius shoved the knight away from himself. He didn't know what the hell Ace was talking about but for some reason he considered that having Ace around wouldn't be such a bad thing, and he knew that such thoughts had something to do with this female.

There was silence after that until Aria, who was completely oblivious to the tension and mood of the place, decided to interrupt.

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"_You are right Ace. I do need to go shopping for clothes and to get some stuff. Would you lend me your cloak?"_ – She said standing up to Ace.

"_You wanna go now?"-_ Ace blinked at her at her readiness. He needed to get out too. – " _I'll escort thy dame!"-_ He dramatically said while putting his cloak over her shoulders and his mask over her face. _–"We can't have people knowing there's a new foreigner , right?"_ **:)**

**.**

She nodded and headed to the door – _"It's not necessary for you to come Ace… but I know that you will anyways, so let's go."_

_._

"_You are just going to head out now?"-_ Julius was confused and annoyed at her lack of care for herself – _"You are hurt and tired"_

"_So?"-_ She rolled her eyes at him- _"I would have to go anyways. I need to get some important stuff and after that I'm probably staying inside for a little while."-_ She turned once again on the door- _"Supplies will have to wait, but is there anything else you need Julius?"_

"I'm going too"- He wasn't exactly willing to let her go alone with Ace while she was in such condition.

"_No, you aren't_."-She shrugged her shoulders _-"It would be suspicious if you both were seen with a cloaked person, not to mention that anyone could track us back to the clock tower just by seeing you. And the point is to not to be known_"- She was utterly rational and practical with her argument.- "_Everyone knows that Ace keeps roaming around, but you only go out when it's really needed Mr. hermit _"

"_She has very good points._"- Ace put his hand on her shoulder, and although she stiffed she didn't take it off her.- "_Don't worry Julius, we'll bring you something pretty._"

.

With that the two were off.

Julius groaned and turned to pick up the medical supplies and went to leave then in her room so that she could use them when she came back. Upon entering the room he spotted a piled up bunch of dark armored plates and he took notice that she had gone out without wearing her armor.

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("_**Well, she's with Ace. What's the worst that could happen?")**_

_**.**_

He stopped what he was doing with a dead serious expression on his face and face-palmed hard. That hadn't been reassuring at all.

It in fact made him somewhat nervous... Maybe he could get out too? He needed to go and get food and other supplies anyways. He might as well go out now to get them.

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"_You're taking me to a lone dark and secluded place?_ – Ace grinned when they entered a rundown building of old style and various floor quite away from any respectable street.

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She had totally refused to let him lead and told him that if he wanted to go somewhere else he could go alone, she was heading her own way. That for some reason had made him decide to follow her.- _"Does that means you have taken me somewhere before? Should I be worried or should be exited Aria?... I think I'm excited anyways"_

_._

"_I'm not taking you anywhere this time Ace. You are just tagging along_"- She ignored his inquiry and looked carefully around the place. – "_Good. No one has been here in a while_"

"_That sounds cold. And here I was thinking you were leading me_"- He put his hand over his sword's hilt and considered if he should make this ironic and kill her. –("_**Nha, that's be too easy ")- **_Her words had picked his interest anyways. He observed her move through the place like she owned it. She clearly knew her way around. -"_Have you taken me somewhere else before?"_

"_Rather than taking you we went together. But … Oh, here we are."-_ She stopped her exploration when they reached a big bookcase that held nothing but a thick layer of dust.

"_You seem to know this place well. Did you stayed here last time?" –_ Ace was interested in how she had been very evasive on many things, particularly where she had stayed.

"_A few times"_

"_Why not with a roleholder"_

"_Did also a few times too. Everywhere really. The towers, the amusement park, the mansion, the castle, your tent…"_

_._

Now THAT really caught Ace's attention. But before he could ask her or say something naughty she moved to the side of the bookcase and pressed something that made a clicking noise. Then she pressed the side of the bookcase and pushed to move it aside and revealed a hidden big room. It wasn't as dusty or rundown as the rest of the building, in fact it's simple design was elegant and efficient. One could camp here easily.

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"_This is very fun" :D_ – Ace was thrilled by this mysterious girl. She was so full of secrets and surprises! She was weird and it confused him at times, however it was a nice kind of confusion, it was more like excitement because you never knew what she would pull out next… He then felt that this sensation was something he had felt before. – "_You know? This is almost like a date. Me and you, together in a private place…"_

_._

She huffed - "_No it's not a date because it wasn't planned and appointed."_

_._

"_We should go camping sometime"_

_._

She entered the room with Ace trailing behind and went straight for a mirror in the side wall – _"We already went camping a lot. Will probably go again at some point"_ – She moved the mirror to make it move aside and reveal a hidden modern looking safe with buttons. She pressed them and it opened. From it she took out a small backpack and a couple stashes of money.

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"_So we DO have a past adventuring together? And you have just invited me to go camping! Consider that a date!_ XD"- He look at the bunch of bill stashes she was putting in her backpack- "_That's a lot of money."_

_._

After checking its contents, from the backpack she took a charms bracelet and put in in her left wrist and an utility belt with some side hip bags which she put on before she began accommodating the backpack below the big cloak.

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"_I'm very good at what I do and I charge what it's worth"_ – She reinstalled the mirror back in place and when they went out of the room she repositioned the bookcase while thinking than maybe she could tell Ace more to try another kind of strategy. If with Julius she kept information to a minimum, but with Ace she let on info in slow but continuous streaks, she could test both methods at the same time to see if they remembered her at all. – "_And yes, we had a bunch of adventures Ace. There was this time when we roamed the woods, fell down a hill, ran from furious bees, stumbled upon a strawberry field, dealt with angry raccoons, got chased by a bear… and all that before we even set camp at night." –_She closed her eyes and opened them again before stepping in front of him on her way out_ -" Which reminds that you own me a dinner. You didn't let me kill that bear…"_

"_Then as a knight I have to repay that debt. Let's go dine_" – Ace jumped right at the chance. He couldn't believe that this girl had lived such things with him and seemed quite fond of the memory. He was beginning to want to regain those memories. Yes, it was hard to believe, but, he couldn't doubt her either for some reason.

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Both went back outside and noticed that time had changed to afternoon.

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"_You don't have to repay that debt. You don't even remember it, so it does not count because I could be lying about that."- _She shrugged her shoulders with a defeated sigh.

"_It would be un-knightly to not trust a dame's word."- _His smile was nice and way was he missing the chance to tangle her in her game. **^_^**

**.**

Aria's stomach answered for her with a hungry growl and Ace chuckled.

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"_Alright. Let's go eat something._ "- She agreed with her stomach. No way was she missing the chance for a free meal.** ^_^**

**.**

They soon found themselves in front of an expensive looking restaurant that belonged to said mafia. Ace went straight to the faceless at the entrance that was looking at the book of reservations.

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"_A table for too in a quiet and private place. charge it at the castle of hearts_" – Ace said quite cheekily.

"_We don't attend without a reservation and…. UURGGGHH!_ " – Too late did the faceless look at who he was talking to. Faster than he could realize his mistake, he was cut down by the knave's sword.

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Ace turned around to see if the girl looked startled or scared. But she was as impassive as if nothing had happened. Which shouldn't happen with a foreigner. When he had killed someone in front of Alice so suddenly, Alice had freaked out.

But hadn't she told them that she wasn't what they thought a foreigner would be?

Another man came out and saw the fading corpse and the knave's unamused smile and behind him a cloaked person. If the rumors were true, the mask and the bloodied cloak belonged to the executioner. He quickly bowed politely and in fear- "_Sir knight! Sir executioner! We apologize profusely. We'll clear a table for you right away."_

Ace sheathed his sword and with his smile in place spoke clearly – "_mmhh hhh… That would be nice, but I also asked you for a nice place to talk. We have important things to speak while we eat and we'd like some more privacy Mr. faceless."_

Aria caught on the charade and proceeded to retrieve the clock from the man Ace had just killed and put it away inside the cloak.

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"_But sir! We are full!"_

"_Charge everything to the castle of hearts. Even add an extra fee"_

_._

The faceless gulped down but nodded. -"_Yes sir."-_ Then he ran back inside.

Ace turned to look at her impassive stance- "_You don't show any pity? What a curious foreigner you are. Or should I call you 'executioner in turn' I did hired you, didn't I?"_

She got annoyed but it was impossible to detect it bellow the tattered cloak and mask- "_I told you once. The only mercy in me is in the world "mercenary". And I'm not killing anyone just because Ace._ "–Her voice sounded wrong and somewhat digital despite not having her armor on. She put her fingers against her temple and shook her head-_ "If it weren't because you are repaying them for the trouble and because I'm hungry, I would drag you away from here for being so troublesome."_

Without waiting for anyone to come back to get them to their seats, Ace went inside with Aria following him. However, once inside Ace's smile turned psychotically happy upon seeing the clients. It seemed that after all he could be able to kill various attendants to the party.

He got close to her ear to murmur in her ear- "_As a knight I will comply to your wishes my lady. I'll help you remain anonymous_"- He took out his sword again. – _"The less people now at the wedding crasher the better, right?"_- His sword transformed into an assault rifle and he began shooting the commensals and personnel.

The place became a chaos. Some customers tried getting away and were shot down, some others took out guns of their own and shot back but Ace was way too swift. The employees of the restaurant came fast and began shooting at the couple too while Aria took a charm from her bracelet and transformed it into an UZI, but rather than staying close to Ace, who was the main target, she only used it to clear a way and run for cover to the kitchen.

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"_This a fun date_ !" **:D** – Ace finished taking everyone down fast and followed her to the kitchen, where a man was shooting at her while she was taking cover down a counter. -"_Having fun with another man Aria!? Should I join_?" – He said and shot the person from the kitchen´s entrance.

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Aria heard the man that was shooting at her fall down and she looked at Ace who has grinning like a happy idiot.

The knave calmly went to offer her his hand to get up- _"I decided that I'm not sharing you with anyone but Julius_" :)

She slapped his hand away and took of the mask, moving the cloak back to uncover her head. Her expression denoted her annoyance. – "_Damn Ace! Now I'm practically out of bullets and everyone will target us anyways."- _She stood up and went to turn off the ovens_ a_nd serve herself and Ace a couple dishes that were ready and had managed to survive the ruckus.

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"_But now we'll have a free meal_" **:) **– Ace was surprised by her calm demeanor after this and by the fact that a foreigner had pulled out a gun of her own.

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She blinked and then opened and closed her mouth upon thinking about it. -"_I can't really argue with that"_ – **¬3¬** She placed the dishes in a counter and dragged a couple high chairs for her and Ace, whom sat by her side with the same happy grin.

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"_Hey Aria? How well do you really know me?" – _The tiny though that she might had been closer to him than she let on had slowly wormed inside the knave's brain. She was simply too comfortable and cool around him. Either she was crazy or...

"_Well enough Mr. Executioner and Sir Ace of Hearts. More than you know about me at the moment_"- She barely interrupted her meal.

"_That's not very informing" – _Ace pouted and began eating himself. **-_-0**

"_No, its not."_

_._

She wasn't keen on conversation at the moment. She was very hungry and didn't even knew when had been the last time she ate anything at all. In that place she hadn't got any sense of time and she hadn't got the change to check her system's recordings. When she began eating the next dish, and before Ace could start conversation, an explosion was heard from the main entrance.

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"_Hey bro! We'll be able to play, right?_ " – One voice could be heard in the distance. The words had been spoken loudly so that whoever was inside could hear them.

"_Of course we can bro!"_ – Another voice answered the first.

Aria smacked her forehead and then pulled Ace's ear- _"Look what you did!? Now I'm really in danger. Those are the bloody twins!"_

"_Ow,ow,ow! Ary that hurts!_" – His smile widened despite the pain in his ear.

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She groaned.- "_I'll escape on my own. This is YOUR mess."- _Some shots were heard_ -"Es tu perrito y tu lo bañas. I'm out of here. _" – She stood up and began heading to the service stairs that lead to the second floor.

Ace stood up fast and grabbed her by the hand before she was out of reach. She remained still for a second before breaking free of his grasp. He realized what he was doing and covered it with his serene smile- "_Go back to the tower and we'll go shopping later_" **:)**

**.**

"_Yeah, yeah."_ – She half ignored him and when the voices of the twins called out once again she looked away with haste towards the stairs as she began planning a couple escape routes.

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He truly didn't know why he had felt a pang in his clock when she was about to run away and leave him behind, but the feeling had been bad. Ace knew that he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but he wasn't a complete idiot either. That reaction had been too fast and too instinctual. He hadn't thought about it, he had just reacted and it had something to do with her going away. Something had definitely happened in the past with her that caused him to react like that and he was starting to wonder exactly what. -_"I'll take care of this, Ary._ "

She ran away without looking back while he unsheathed his sword once again and walked towards the door to the restaurant, wondering when he had gotten so comfortable with her as to call her "Ary".

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**What do you think? I think that things will blow up even more. And I promise you that next chaps will be full of action.**

**5 reviews for next chap (same with any story). **

**I also remind you that there is a mature one-shot with Ace, but beware because it is M rated for a reason.**


	7. From the frying pan an into the fire

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CHAPTER 7: **FROM THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE**

**.**

Aria reached the upper floor and went to the window closest to the next building that wasn't actually that close. She knew that trying to escape via the streets was a stupid idea. If the twins were there maybe Elliot was close along some of their men. So she planned to escape by the rooftop for a couple blocks before getting to street level and head back to the clock tower.

She reached the terrace and climbed to the roof. It wasn't easy because she was still hurt and very tired. She didn't even know how she was still moving around but rationalized that it was the adrenalin and paranoia from the moment. Looking at the nearby building she saw that her best bet was to jump towards the roof of the restaurant's parking place that was one floor below, and from there towards the next building, that no doubt had been evacuated when the shooting started at the restaurant.

The mercenary gritted her teeth. It was not an easy jump and she was not wearing her suit or even had the proper strength or coordination to manage it right. It would hurt. When more shooting and the clash of metallic weapons was heard, she ran towards the edge and jumped.

She didn't land well. Her foot twisted and she rolled in a bad position, hitting her shoulder in the process. The impact took away her breath and made her see nothing but black for a few seconds before she stood up with dizziness in order to drag herself away from there. Luckily for her the next building was right next and from there it was connected to a small alleyway below through a fire staircase.

Aria carefully looked down to check if there were moors on the coast and found that the way was clear. She checked her inventory and growled. For what weapons she it there was only the ones in her little weapon charms bracelet, which every little weapons was a real weapon that simply transformed into a small charm just like weapons in this world could transform into other objects. She come up with that one a little before the spiral of events that led to her being thrown, poisoned and hurt, in the time frozen country of Diamond. She had to praise herself for the idea. It had been far more than useful, however, this bracelet and backpack had been hidden by her right after a hard training session with her faction and she never had the time to go back and re-stock it properly. She may have the weapons there, but she didn't have ammunition. Right now she counted with very few bullets for the UZI thanks to Ace, a combat knife, three grenades, one stunning and two explosive, and little else that didn't require a setup. The faster she got to her new 'base' the better.

She went down and began limping away as fast as she could, but right at the corner of the back street she received a heavy kick to her side that made her fall to the floor.

"_Look what we have here!" _

Aria rolled on the floor to avoid a heavier impact and to get a bigger terrain against her attacker while barely dodging a sword coming down her way. She turned her head around to see that she was surrounded by four men.

"_Looks like the executioner ain't as strong as it was rumored. Let's kill him_"- One of the men said.

Aria knew that it would be useless to reveal her identity; in fact it would be worst is she revealed herself as the tired and hurt foreigner that she was. At least now that she was cosplaying as the executioner, her attackers were somewhat wary. At least basically no one knew what the real executioner looked like. People who saw him tended to die immediately after. It was only known that the executioner used a mask, a bloody ragged cloak and carried the clocks on the belt. Which were her exact looks at the moment. And anyone else that wanted to dress up like that would be basically committing suicide, either by the real executioner or by guys like this ones.

"_It'll be fine. If we kill the executioner We'll be in better understanding with all our allies"_

Aria made a quick observation of the situation and surroundings. She noticed that these men used swords. That gave her an edge if only she could get some distance to fight, because sure as hell she had no chance of getting away.

They didn't gave her time to plan more.

The first strike came from her right, but rather than jumping back to get impaled at her left, she jumped forward and got herself cut in the arm, and gaining a couple seconds of surprise and the opportunity to use whatever little strength she had to kick the man aside and into the next attacker. With the advantage of those precious seconds of time against three of her foes, she took her UZI submachine gun charm of her bracelet and transform it in time to shot a barrage that consumed her last bullets and hit 2 of the attackers, the men at her left and the one nearer her right. The other one had used the body of the right attacker that Aria had kicked as human shield, and the last one was behind the remaining man and thus saved himself.

The man that had been behind the one Aria kicked pushed the dead body of his comrade towards Aria. She wasn't able to dodge and ended up in the floor with the UZI falling out of her hands and the body of the dead man over her. She knew that unless she took out both of her enemies she'd be more than dead. So she took another charm from her bracelet and transformed it quickly to throw it in the air at the men's head level as she took cover below the corpse over her, without the energy to focus and activate her cochlear implants.

3 seconds later the grenade exploded and killed the men while Aria ended up covered in the blood of the shielding corpse that had been struck by the shrapnel before it transformed into a clock.

She was breathing hard and had some cuts herself from the shrapnel. Nothing too serious but still she wasn't fine at all to begin with. The explosion had left her temporarily deaf from the closeness and as she tried to stand up she found that the shockwave was affecting her balance and equilibrium. Still she couldn't stay there. The explosion would have attracted attention already.

With difficulty she took the damaged clocks and hanged them from her belt. Then she reclaimed her UZI from the floor and transformed it back into a charm. Then, using a hand along the walls to support herself, she made her way back to the clock tower.

It had been quite the first day as junior clock collector.

Once she reached the tower 's plaza, she did her best to made her way unnoticed inside the building, and once inside she almost collapsed right there on the door. Almost. She growled in the back of her throat. The truth was that she needed help, but she wasn't getting it if she just stayed at the entrance of the tower. She made the effort to get to the stairs and then practically dragged herself to Julius office, leaving just the slightest trace of blood in her way.

_**("Why can't Julius install a ******* elevator**_!?")

She finally reached the floor that held Julius' office, the place where he would most likely be.

"_Julius!_"- She called out.

No one answered.

She cussed and used her annoyance and anger at her own need to force herself to reach his office by the sheer power of stubbornness but the office was empty.

("_**Dammit!")- **_ One time she actually needed someone and once again she found herself alone and on her own resources. No changes there. She could only depend on herself. It had been a mistake to get near anyone again and now her best and probably only chance was to reach her suit and try to patch herself up the best she could and leave this place to see if she could last enough to get medical attention. This time she wasn't coming back.

She leaved her backpack on the floor for a moment to be able to take off the clocks and Ace's cloak and in that moment someone who she really wasn't expecting came in.

"Lord Nightmare! Don't hide in here to avoid your duties."- Gray Ringmarc, ex-assassin and the person that managed all the work in the country of clover burst in to look for his lazy boss and drag him back to work. His slitted yellow eyes fell on the masked stranger holding the clocks and the cloak inside the mortician's office. He threw a knife at the stranger while jumping in front to kill the intruder.

Aria's instinct barely managed to make her move from the surprise attack and that saved her from a certain dead that would have come had the flying knife pierced her at the neck. Instead, the knife struck the mask and split it in two making it fall to the ground. Yet, a second afterwards she saw the cold and merciless yellow eyes of the lizard. The last thing she saw were those yellow eyes widening in surprised when they crossed her own olive orbs. She was completely unable to avoid Gray's kick at her torso that sent her crashing onto Julius's desk with such force that she ended up rolling over it to while all the clocks and parts that were over were thrown and scattered away on the ground. Even before she finally hit the ground, everything went black.

Gray jumped behind the desk and looked at the fallen female. The cloak had fallen from her hands and he could see her precarious attire, yet, it was the fact that she had eyes what called his attention. Not even a moment after, the smell of blood caught his attention as much as the multiple wounds, hits and cuts that were clear on her flesh. He didn't waste time and grabbed the unconscious and bleeding stranger as gently as he could in his haste to take her back to the clock tower where there was always a medic in the infirmary ready to attend Nightmare.

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**Told you there was going to be more action :D , and it's not over yet. What kind of trouble awaits!? And what will happen to Julius and Ace. Now Gray is in the picture and Nightmare will too ;)**

**I know that the story stated somewhat slow, but I hope the pace is getting better :)**

**5 reviews for next update.**

**Oh, and the Mature one-shots are here in ffnet. You can find them on my author page or in the main hnkna category, they are just under M rating, so beware because they are explicit (dud, M rated). **


	8. Mysterious trail

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CHAPTER 8: **MYSTERIOUS TRAIL**

**.**

Julius was walking back to the tower with his hands full of bags with food and supplies when he saw smoke in the distance and Ace coming out of an alley completely covered in blood. The knight was alone.

"_Ace!"- _The mortician called outwith both annoyment and slight worry.

The knave turned to see Julius with a happy grin- "_Oh!? Hi Julius. You two went shopping from food so fast?"_ :)

"_Two? Weren't you with her?"- _Julius was not exactly surprised to figure out that Ace had ended up alone. The idiot had probably gotten lost.

"_Oh yeah. She took me to a dark and private place so that we'd be alone and then we were having an awesomely romantic date in a nice restaurant when some people interrupted us, so she went back to the tower."- _Ace then noticed that Julius was alone too – "_Didn't she arrived at the tower?_"

"_No. I went out to get supplies a little after you left._"_ - _Julius got a bad feeling_- "You shouldn't have leaved her alone. She was hurt."_

Ace noticed that Julius stiffened and that wasn't normal either. Something must have happened in the past to cause Julius to unconsciously react. - "_Hey Julius?... Doesn't it seem strange that we get worried about her running away alone?"_

Julius didn't caught on Ace's deeper meaning or the fact that Ace included himself in the 'worry' statement. He was too troubled by the fact that she was again running around in a bad condition.- _"Didn't you noticed that she was falling on her feet?"_

"_She seemed fine while sneaking around in dark places with me"- _Of course he had noticed, but it had been too fun to wait and see if she would at least stop down to rest or ask for his support. She never did and that was fun to watch too.

"_She's a foreigner Ace." _

"_Awwww! __**:3**__ You are worried so much about her already. Did you too do something very naughty when I found you two earlier" __**:) - **_Ace teased – "You should have waited for me and then we would have done something even more naughty" **^u^**

Julius groaned – "It's not that I'm worried. _It's just the game"_

"_Is it?" – _Ace smiled in a conniving way._-"How far do you think her game was before this?"_

"_I don't know Ace, but let go back to the tower. She'll go there, right?" – _Julius didn't want to waste time his time and energy on Ace's games. He wanted to go back and see if she was at the tower so he could scold both of his 'assistants' for being so careless and idiotic.

"_Somehow I'm not sure about that."- _Ace had some doubts himself about her actions.-_" It feels as if she wouldn't mind not going at all."_

Ace trailed behind Julius and when they came back to the tower, the first sign that something was not right was the blood stains on the door's handle. They saw at each other and entered. Once inside they saw more trails of blood.

Ace kneeled and took off one of his gloves to touch the blood- "_It's not that fresh. But it must be her's_" – Had it been from a faceless it would have turned to darkness here in the tower. He smiled, thinking that she was far more resilient than he had given her credit for if, although being a foreigner she had been able to reach this place by herself in a bad condition. But how bad was her condition was something he wanted to see.

Julius didn't waited more and followed the dark trail with a pace slightly faster than he intended.

The trailed blood stains ended in his office, the door was dirty with blood too.

They entered and when they turned on the lights, they saw that the office was in disarray with clear signs of a struggle. Clocks were scattered on the ground, tools and papers were blown everywhere around and the desk looked like something had crashed with it, by the blood marks, it was more like someone had been tossed over it.

Their gaze soon turned to a backpack tossed in the floor along the executioner's cloak and a bloodied and broken mask. Besides it, one of Gray Ringmarc's knives laid.

Ace picked up the knife from the floor and examined it. There was no doubt that it belonged to the incubus' aid.- "_How naughty of Mr. Lizard to come and play with our minxy assistant_."- Ace tossed the knife in the air making it do a few twists and then caught it with ease.- " _That was naughty_. " – He threw the knife up again with a calmly maniacal grin on his face and he saw Julius expression was deadly serious.- " I_t wouldn't be very knightly if I don't give him back his toy, would it_?"

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**Oh oh... Ace is already interested and that might not be so good , but he at leasts has a valid reason to go and 'practice' with Gray. And Julius still hasn't noticed his own reactions. How cute XD**

**But what happened to Aria meanwhile?**

**5 reviews for releasing next chap. **

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